Ive now seen this pop up a couple time as of recent, and now know the potential source article, thank, and even though it should potentially work, is it really any different that normal flushing, if you do that practice ?
Keeping an open mind let's think about it at the moment, then potentially debunk or provide negatives later.
Say you cut a plant from its root source 7-10days from harvest then keep it in water to "age" it, in those final days all it will be doing is transpiring water and consuming its nutrient stores that are left because it cannot get anymore from its root system and that would cause the plant to potentially finish up quicker as it would sense it's been cut off or receiving less nutrients which in turn effectively flushes or consumes it leftover nutrient stores, achieving a flushed finished bud. So saying that it would work.
Now say you left it attached to its root system, and did a supposed normal flush routine on it and have it be fed straight water for the last week or two, the plant would sense the lowering or lack of nutrients in the root medium and start consuming if current stored nutrient supply, effectively starting to "age" the bud and giving it that flushed look. Same effect as chopping it and putting it into water, the difference being is it's a bit more gradual tapering off in comparison, as it would still have leftover nutrients in the roots and root medium "unless pure water, aka hydro" but would "age" just the same.
Also our plants whether flushed, not flushed, or stem cut when they get to the end of their life then tend to start tapering down their nutrient use anyways, because the plant is shutting down its standard functions as its approaching its final end, it only requires as much nutrients as it needs to support its last functions, so it will "age" out either way, even if feeding up till the end just at a reduced amount.
But in effect there all doing the exactly the same thing, one is just more abrupt that the other, vs either a forced flushing event which is also abrupt just a little less so, and or natural ageing with nutrient consumption reduction up to the end, so possibly "purely hypothetical here, as we have no scientific evidence" by cutting the stem we could potentially reduce the finishing time by maybe a day or two, and have that day or two translate into a jump start of the curing task at hand after harvest. So bonus for that if that is what actually happens, but we have no scientific evidence to back that up, with the original article only referring to how to artificially color roses or flowers with food dye, which the flowers were already picked at their peak for there own purposes "display".
Now comes the downsides and what ifs.
Point 1 : Say you cut your plant and put it in water, but potentially create air pockets in the xylem and phloem, this can cause the passage of the water in those structures of the plant to become blocked causing a air embolism, and that would cause those pathways and the structure they support "buds and leafs" to start shutting down and dying prematurely.
Point 2 : Say your plants nutrient stores aren't balanced or at ideal capacity before the cut or even flushing event, in that final week to week and half, the plant should still be going through the process of making new cells, new structures, and finishing out the processes in packing out the buds, which it will require nutrients to do so, but if the plant has enough stored away then we don't have to worry, if it doesn't the plant is gonna run into a roadblock where it won't be able to finish out in the same efficiency as if it had those nutrients, thus potentially causing lesser yield and or quality to occur.
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Point 3 : With the cutting of the stem you could potentially spread pathogens to the plant, but being that it's so close to harvest its kinda a null point as it would only effect the last couple days after those pathogens take hold, but could still be an issue, just a minor one.
Those above being the main issues that i can think of at this point in time.
So with all that, is those potential drawbacks worth the potential gain of maybe a day or two, that comes down to the individual person on those choices.
Something to think about.
